American Justice System

5 Pages

1221 Words

The United States Federal government should significantly reform the legal proceedings of the justice system?s criminal sentencing policy. This statement can be considered a proposition of policy because it suggests something should be done. The statement attempts to uncover a change in the conduct of the legal system. It describes a course of action that should be taken by the federal government to reform the justice system.
A key term of the proposition describes the criminal sentencing policy. The policy is defined as the amendments that the justice system has created and enforces. The definition of legal proceeding is that a defendant was accused and an argument is made to obtain or secure a conviction or argument. The justice system is defined by the federal system from which the laws are enforced.
The direction of change for the proposition identifies the agency for change, which is the Federal Judiciary Board. The type of change in the proposition is defining that the laws should be significantly reformed. The target of change is the criminal legal system and its sentencing policy.
While punishment was an integral part of the American criminal justice and correctional system, rehabilitation of criminals was the primary goal from 1900 to the 1960s. Judges at that time practiced wide discretion on how to sentence offenders. Probation became used extensively as an alternative to incarceration of criminals.
It was not until the end of the 1960?s the idea of rehabilitation was starting to be seen by the public as a lost cause. After some time people started to think that it didn?t work because of a number of factors, including a rising crime rate and social unrest. The system was too relaxed for the rehabilitation of criminals. The public opinion started to lean toward harsher and longer prison sentences.
The sentencing model that was in use at the time had been used for the past 50 years. The model allowed...